Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Short Interest Update

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) saw a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 67,380,000 shares, a decrease of 16.6% from the December 31st total of 80,770,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 92,160,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on TSLA shares. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Tesla from $480.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.31.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA traded up $4.32 on Friday, reaching $404.60. 83,239,854 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 66,449,784. Tesla has a fifty-two week low of $138.80 and a fifty-two week high of $488.54. The business’s 50-day moving average is $404.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 198.33, a PEG ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 2.30.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.54% and a net margin of 7.26%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Tesla will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total transaction of $34,602,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,508. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 8,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.37, for a total value of $2,402,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,548,461.84. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 553,386 shares of company stock worth $196,305,796 in the last three months. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 35,611.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 11,054,391 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,892,160,000 after purchasing an additional 11,023,436 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 36,790.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 8,660,672 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,497,526,000 after buying an additional 8,637,195 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Tesla by 194.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,486,739 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,215,765,000 after buying an additional 3,624,910 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Tesla by 13.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 24,377,822 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $6,377,970,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,763 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Tesla by 52.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,344,526 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,921,548,000 after acquiring an additional 2,511,488 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Tesla

Tesla, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, leases, and sells electric vehicles, and energy generation and storage systems in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Automotive, and Energy Generation and Storage. The Automotive segment offers electric vehicles, as well as sells automotive regulatory credits; and non-warranty after-sales vehicle, used vehicles, body shop and parts, supercharging, retail merchandise, and vehicle insurance services.